Good Morning!! Welcome to the Outcomes Development Workshop Highline Mathematics Department Professional Development Day Activity Fall 2003

Schedule: 8:35 – 9:05Presentation/Discussion of the terminology and concept behind a focus on outcomes. 9:05 – 9:20Small-group conversations about responses to the ( ed) self- reflection questions. 9:20 – 9:50Practice defining outcomes and related assessments. 9:50 – 11:10Small-group development of outcomes for departmental operations.

Outcomes, Objectives, Assessment: Are they more than fancy words?

The Big Picture: What do we want to have at the end? Goals Outcomes Activities Assessment

For whom are we doing this? …and why?

Key Terms I Goal - A generally defined statement of values or intentions. Outcome - A careful description of a measurable result, outcomes are typically derived from goals with consideration of possible supporting activities. Activity - An action undertaken in an attempt to achieve a particular outcome.

Key Terms II Assessment (General) - A process of gathering information to make decisions; the process of observing learning (describing, collecting, recording, evaluating and interpreting information about a person's learning). Formative assessment - An assessment used to measure progress toward an outcome or the effectiveness of a particular activity with the intention of using the results to improve the activity. (Could take the form of student self-assessment, progress reports, SGID, etc.) Summative assessment - An assessment used to judge whether an outcome has been achieved.

Generic examples of these terms Goal – What we hope students take from our classes, such as “they understand graphing.” Outcome – One of the bullet points from our CAF: “Students will be able to graph points and lines in the rectangular coordinate system.” Activity – Anything we do in class to “cover the material.” Formative Assessment – Quizzes, Homework Summative Assessment – Section exams, cumulative final

A more specialized example Goal – Students will learn from their mistakes, and not dismiss them as “dumb errors.” Outcome – Each student will be able to accurately describe some of his/her error patterns, along with reasons for their recurrence. Activity – Students will present work on board; teacher will guide students through process of self- evaluation after quizzes. Formative assessment – Students will discuss their post-quiz self-evaluations in small and large groups. Summative Assessment – As part of the midterm and final evaluations, each student will be required to submit the original quizzes, a written analysis of the errors, and suggestions for avoiding the errors in the future.

The First Step: Examining Goals and Their Consequences

In your groups, share your responses to the questions sent out via . DO NOT DEBATE THE RESPONSES!!

Now consider the goal: “Get students to appreciate mathematics.” Within your groups, try to describe two outcome-activity-assessment sequences that address this goal. It may be productive to work on the outcome- assessment pair first, THEN think of supporting activities.

The Second Step: Applying these ideas when developing departmental outcomes

Tasks: Begin by brainstorming a list of goals your group thinks should be pursued by the department. This can be goals from the preexisting list, or something new. Return to the first of the current departmental goals. –Check that it supports one of the goals identified by your group, and reword if necessary. –Determine if the goal is directly measurable: if so, describe the necessary assessment, if not, formulate the necessary outcomes so you can describe specific assessment tools/strategies that would be used.